Ampang LRT Line extension – four more stations in Puchong to begin operations on March 31, 2016

Come March 31, 2016, commuters will be pleased to know that four more stations of the Ampang LRT Line extension – IOI Puchong Jaya, Pusat Bandar Puchong, Taman Perindustrian Puchong, and Bandar Puteri – will begin operations.

In a report by The Star, the Ampang LRT Line will soon have 33 stations up and running by next week. The announcement should also bring respite to those living and working in Puchong, considering the congestion on the LDP highway during peak hours.

The final three stations that make up the Ampang LRT Line extension – Puchong Perdana, Puchong Prima, and Putra Heights are still under works at the moment, and are expected to start operations in June. The Putra Heights interchange will be the connecting point for the Ampang line and the Kelana Jaya line.

The Kelana Jaya LRT Line extension, consisting of 14 additional LRT stations, is also expected to start its service by June. When all the mentioned stations open for service, it will symbolise the completion of the LRT extension project that was first announced back in 2006.

Both projects appear to be in line with the government’s Budget 2016 in terms of timeline. With the extensions set to be completed in its entirety within this year, will it affect your mode of transport to work? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Originating from the corporate world with a background in finance and economics, Gerard’s strong love for cars led him to take the plunge into the automotive media industry. It was only then did he realise that there are more things to a car than just horsepower count.

i am using the ampang lrt everyday, and i think they need to upgrade the trains on the original ampang lrt line (new train from puchong will stop at sri petaling and passengers need to change train here). the trains are old and quite dirty inside, and i experienced quite frequent technical issues which really annoys me. the management really needs to improve more on their service too.

Completely agreed. The new trains for Puchong are nice, quiet and clean, got information on display and clear recorded announcements. But the existing Ampang line train really bad, the announcement is by the driver himself, can’t even hear what he said.

They are replacing all the old trains with new trains but that will happen only in stages. They could not replace the old train on the original ampang route now because of signalling. The new train is driverless, which require different signalling configuration. Old train will be replaced until the whole stretch up to Putra Heights is complete targeted for this June.

From what I’ve read in RapidKL facebook page, they will only be replacing the old trains with the new ones by end of this year. So we will still need to use Sri Petaling as interchange till end of the year. Unless you plan to change trains at Putra Heights, which will take you straight to city centre via the extended Kelana Jaya line.

A lot of LRT naysayers here, maybe because it’s a car site after all. :-) I take the LRT from Puchong almost every day to KL area, here’s my take on it, minus the bs from Prasarana last week about their VIPs taking the train while “packed”.

On the LRT I spend RM8.40 return per day plus RM4 parking so over 23 days it’s RM285 per month. It used to be much cheaper with the RM100 unlimited monthly but what’s gone is gone.

When I was driving it was roughly RM4 on toll, RM10 on fuel and RM10 on parking for around RM552 per month. That’s before wear and tear (around 1400km per month of oil changes + tires).

Time taken is roughly the same ie. about 1 hour each way by car or LRT.

So I save roughly RM350 per month taking the LRT. Other intangible benefits include the time I use on the train to read, reply on paultan, call business associates and catch up on email, plus the extra activity walking and climbing stairs in the station (10k steps per day easily!). Also despite what people say I hardly ever see banglas or other pati on the train during rush hours, and many Malaysians would give up their seats for the pregnant ladies and elderly.

I ride the train from BK5 station and change train at Sri Petaling line. To get to BK5 station, I will have to pass by Bandar Puteri, Bandar Puchong Jaya, Industri Puchong and IOI.
From what I observed, the parking at BK5 station memang tak cukup, and people always resort to parking by the road side, which MPSJ gives saman on daily basis.
However that will be a different story for the new 4 stations. Except for Bandar Puteri station, the rest of the station are all equip with park and ride facility. Based on what I can see, each park and ride facility should be able to handle 100 to 150 cars easily.
Unfortunately,private vehicles in Puchong alone is standing at 200,000. So in the end, parking might be a slight problem. Unless we are willing to park at the shop lot area and walk further.

All is good but it will be the same problem as other LRT stations… insufficient car parks! I noticed that they built street level car parks only. If they had some brains and foresight, they would have build at least a 2 or 3 stories car park. The cost can be recovered in a very short time as there is a huge volume of cars. So what’s stopping them?

Comparing driving from Puchong to KL (Bukit Bintang area) vs LRT, I can surely say that driving is faster. Usually it took me only 30-40 mins driving vs 1 hour or more using LRT. The worst experience is with Monorail, during peak hours, can’t even enter the train when the door open. There is nothing much can be done when standing in a pack train carrying a laptop bag. I will still prefer driving.

I prefer the rail system anytime compared to driving. I agree with the comment that multi storey carparks should be built instead of street level. with adequate security of course. The Monorail system really needs to buck up. Too crowded!!

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